NASA has launched Artemis 2 for its historic trip around the moon. The massive SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft launched from Florida's Kennedy Space Center at 6:35 p.m. Eastern.
With four astronauts on board, this is the first crewed mission to the moon since 1972. They're scheduled to circle the moon on April 6th.
The ten-day test flight will conclude with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego, California.
About eight minutes into the mission, NASA reported main engine cutoff. That's when the engines of the core stage shut down, and the huge orange fuel tank separated from the upper stage.
Next up -- around 20 minutes into the flight -- the solar array on the service module will deploy to power key systems on the spacecraft.
In the next few hours, the Artemis crew will reach high Earth orbit -- the first time humans have achieved that in over 50 years.
Photo: NASA / Getty Images News / Getty Images